


Nothing Much to Do drabbles

by Diaphenia



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-16 04:50:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 4,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaphenia/pseuds/Diaphenia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles, reposted in one place</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Index

[My First Time](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4965573)

[Sick](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4954617)

[Love Gods](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4954305)

[All-Around Great Guy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4954671)

[Pre-Birthday Nerves](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4954710)

[Accidents Will Happen](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4954965)

[Kick](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4955337)

[Westeros](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4955112)

[Crowns](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/4955232)

[college](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/5556434)

[play](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/5556434)

[coffee shop](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/5556461)

[wedding](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/5556488)

[away](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2256504/chapters/5556521)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was on vacation when "My First Time" was posted, and I would've written fic, but I knew I'd get canon-balled before I had a chance to write. But people liked it, so I'm throwing it up here. See the original [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/93944186944/if-i-werent-on-vacation-heres-the-fic-i-would)

Bea watches Hero’s video and is massively annoyed. Hero and Claudio have been dating for barely a hot minute and they’re in  _love?_  Then she sees Meg and Robbie, and they’re even worse now that they’re back together— especially since Bea still sees Robbie making eyes at other women all the time. 

She pulls out of her camera, determined to make a video (or, at least, vent, and then make some boring video about the fucking streamers they’re using at Hero’s party). She’s mid-rant about how love isn’t real, and even it was it would take longer than, what,  _two months_ , and love is effort, and also NOT REAL—

When Ben, who she’s been completely avoiding anyway, pops up because of course he does. She thinks he’s going to tease her, or worse yet, hit on her, but he’s in a weird mood. Instead, he sits next to her. She’s not sure if she should turn off the camera, but she leaves it on because it seems more awkward to shut it down. Eventually, with prodding, he asks her what she thinks about trust; is it more important than love, how you decide a person is trustworthy. She will later think this conversation was about Hero, though it wasn’t really.

Normally, she’d give him flip answers, but instead she sits with him before telling him that she knows her dad cheated once, and that her mom forgave him, and that maybe love is owning up to your mistakes when confronted. She doesn’t tell Ben she’s never really forgiven her father, though her mother has.

Instead, she pats Ben on the hand, a little condescendingly, that he needs to go to practice. 

But he doesn’t, and they sit there together under that tree for a long time.


	3. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> elizaleona requested _Bea is sick; boyfriend Ben helps_ [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/94401583139/elizaleona-requested-bea-is-sick-boyfriend-ben) on Aug 10, 2014

  
“Beatrice! You look awful, love.”

 “Not the first time you’ve said that,” she said, letting Ben in.

 “No, I mean it. Are you ill?”

 “Are you mental? Dukes don’t get sick.” She just about hacked up a lung with the cough that followed. It was piss-poor timing, but the point still stood. “I’m fine.”

 He pressed her against the door. She closed her eyes and tilted automatically, only to find his cool wrist pressed against her forehead. “You’re feverish.”

 “I’m not. We’re going to this concert.” She pointed at her clothes, which were perfect. Hero had picked them out before taking off for her own date. Bea had to go. She’d already put on eyeliner, for christsakes.

 “Fife and the Drums is going to have another final tour ever, you know they always do. Come on, let me take your temperature.”

 He pulled her towards the bathroom, rifling through the medicine cabinet

 “If I agree to this, and I’m not saying I will, but if I take my temperature and I’m fine, will you admit you were wrong?”

 “Cheerfully. Lift your tongue,” he said, pressing the button.

 Three minutes later, the thermometer buzzed. Ben was distracted with his phone, so Bea checked. 38.9. Shit.

 “What is it?” he asked a moment later.

 “It broke,” she answered, pointing to both pieces of the no-longer-working thermometer. “Guess we can’t settle this.”

 “You’re absolutely bonkers,” he said.

 She stalked out of the bathroom.

 He followed. “How about we kick back, watch some _New Girl_ and eat some popcorn? We just skip the concert, but there’s cuddling.” He threw himself on the couch.

 “Ok,” she said, curling up next to him. “This is nice too.”

 She waited while he started discussing which episodes they were going to watch. Season two was her favorite, but he really thought the show had bounced back in the fourth season. She tuned this mostly out. Then, he started smoothing back her hair, and she saw her chance.

 “Yoink,” she said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. “Looks like we’re going to the concert after all.”

 He rolled his eyes. “Fine, but I’m driving, and when you end up even sicker, I’m not bringing you soup.”

 “I told you, Dukes don’t get sick,” she said, grabbing the OJ and drinking straight from the carton. “I’m, at worst, under the weather.”

 “And Hobbeses bring soup no matter what, so you’re lucky,” he said.

 “Spoken like someone who has never tasted his own cooking,” she answered, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door.


	4. Love Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested love god shenanigans [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/95699897204/just-found-your-nmtd-fic-and-loved-them-so-i-was)

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Balthazar said.

“Actually, it’s a great idea,” Meg said. “So I just press this button?” she asked Hugo.

 Hugo nodded, and Meg pressed it.

In the grainy video feed, she saw Ben and Bea’s elevator slam to a halt. She stumbled into him, and he reflexively put out his hands to steady her, but instead, she knocked into him and they both fell to the ground, with her landing elbow first into his chest. He looked pained, then tried to roll out from underneath her just as she tried to kneel to a stand, which caused her leg to hook around his and the two of them to roll again. This time, Ben landed on top, and watching him try to scramble off of Bea was a treat, truly.

Meg cackled. Balthazar hadn’t liked the idea, but she’s been right, as she knew she would be.

“Ok, but we’re going to let them out now, right?” Balthazar said, just as Bea started madly slamming the emergency button. Ben pushed her hand out of the way to hit the button, like he thought she wasn’t doing it right. Bea had her hands on her hips, and was clearly yelling something.

Meg looked at Hugo, who shrugged before going back to his Sudoku.

“Let’s leave them in a little longer,” Meg said.

***

Ursula prefered to let nature take its course. She felt the Bea and Ben had enough information, and that the two of them would realize they were in love in short order.

Pedro, however, felt otherwise. “We gotta do something or else they’ll just avoid each other forever.”

“They’re processing.”

“They’re going to  _die alone_.”

“They have a few more years, statistically,” she said, and scooped up her books. She didn’t have time for this.

He grabbed her arm. “I thought you might say that.”

She shook him off. “What’d you do?”

“Let’s just say being student leader has its perks. Thanks to me, those two are now in the same group in history class.”

“That strikes me as an abuse of power.”

He grinned. “Just like a real politician.”

***

"What’s  _he_  doing here?” Bea asked.

"What’s  _she_  doing here?” Ben asked.

"Why do either of you think you should come on our dates?" Claud whispered.

"I think you’re both going to love this movie," Hero said, gently pushing them both into the row.

"Wait," Ben said from the end of the row. "I was going to sit next to Caud.”

“He was going to eat my popcorn,” Claud said.

Bea glared at Ben, then looked pleadingly at Hero.“We could switch seats—”

“The movie’s about to start,” Hero said, just as the lights dimmed.

It wasn’t ten minutes later poor Bea was whispering about Ben stealing her popcorn. Hero almost relented, but Claud tapped her palm twice and she knew they had to stick the plan.

When they got to the love scene, though, that was when the plan really kicked in. Ben was watching wide-eyed, hands lingering in Bea’s popcorn bucket, while Bea looked anywhere but the screen.

Hero kissed Claud. It was great as always, but she couldn’t see anything, so she swung around, throwing herself into his lap so she could sneak a peek at her cousin.

Bea was looking at them with a slightly amazed expression.

Hero put her hands up on Claud’s face, pulling away ever so slightly and whispering  _what do you see_? to him.

Claud shifted a moment before whispering back  _she’s looking right at Ben_.


	5. All-Around Great Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested a three sentence Pedro/Balthazar fic [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/95046575369/pedro-balthazar) on Aug 17, 2014

"I was trying to help Claudio," Pedro said, raking his fingers through his hair, "I was trying to be a good friend."

"And in the process you destroyed Hero, who is _also_  supposed to be your friend?” Balthazar asked quietly, to his silence. “Some all-around great guy you turned out to be.”


	6. Pre-Birthday Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ballroompink requested _Hero/Claudio_ three sentence fic [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/95032288059/amy-dan-or-hero-cladio) on August 17, 2014

"It’s just, he’s being really weird lately, not returning my calls, avoiding eye contact," Hero said, hugging her knees to her chest.

Bea put a hand on her shoulder, “He’s probably just busy planning something special for your birthday, something big.”

"I bet it’s an amazing present!" she said, brightening considerably at the thought. 


	7. Accidents Will Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bisexualdanegan requested three sentence fic for _Ben/Bea_ [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/95039857254/ben-bea-im-absolutely-obsessed-with-nmtd-now-thank)

Bea gasped, stepping back, “I didn’t mean to!”

"I can’t believe you _kissed_  me,” Ben said, touching his lips. 

"It was an accident," she said, accidentally doing it again.


	8. Kick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pedro and Bea, post-party, [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/95820160114/heres-what-i-need-these-future-scenes-to-be)

 

Pedro and Bea have barely spoken since  _that night_. She thought it might be tough, but she’s been busy with everyone else. Bea’s first priority was her cousin, but Hero is now on the road to recovery (and adamant that Bea please stop giving her advice, as her relationship, such as it is, with Claudio is her own affair). And then there’s Ben, who she can barely look in the eye after all those things she whispered to him on the porch after the party. He’s on a shelf, basically, for now.

But Pedro’s been her friend for years, and his betrayal is sharp in her heart. And she knows there’s this spot he goes, when he’s mad, and Bea goes looking for him. 

Pedro’s so fucking mad lately. He was trying to be a pal to Claud and brother to John, and now everyone’s pissed at him. Meg hisses at him in the hallway and Balthazar—  _Balthazar!_ — took down that weird song he’d written and avoids him. 

But he has a place he’s been going, the same place he’s been going since he was young and the only problems he had were birthday party invitations, a place he can kick around a ball and ignore the world around him. 

Only she’s there. 

"You gotta go," he tells her.

"Not going to do that," she says, and she steals the ball from him. He always forgets she was on her team at the old school, that she’s really quite good. 

He gets it back from her, she steals it back from him, and the whole thing devolves into them volleying it back and forth, knowing the first one to lose it has to speak, has to settle this. 

So they just kick, hard, and the only sound in the valley is the occasional grunt (Leo would be so proud, if Leo hadn’t suspended practice for the time being)

Bea kicks it and it flies past Pedro’s head, and before he can even wrap his head around this, Bea’s yelling  _What the fuck, Pedro?_

He knows the rules, knows he has to answer, but his thoughts are still too jumbled, so he takes off the other way. Bea gives chase but he’s faster, knows he could run home and she’d never catch him. 

But that would be the end of their friendship, and he can’t let that happen, can’t be the person she thinks he is. 

He veers off down the hill, stumbles but recovers, runs right up to the edge, turns and yells  _I’m sorry_


	9. Westeros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ballroompink requested _Bea and Ben/they're actors on Game of Thrones AU_ [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/96587664769/nmtd-bea-and-ben-theyre-actors-on-game-of-thrones-au)

"Fancy running into you," Ben said.

"Oh joy, the one person I was hoping got eaten by dragons," Bea said, looking him over. 

 He puffed out his chest a bit. Clearly, she was jealous of his success; being a popular character on the most downloaded show in the world was nothing to sneeze at. “And you’re here for an autograph, right?” he asked, pulling out a marker. 

"Can you— you can see what I’m wearing, right? Do you even read your casting announcements?" She shoved her script pages at him, her character’s name highlighted. "And you think I’m just some deluded fan who thinks you’re— I can’t say it, I can’t say it."

"You can," he said, taking in her chain mail. "The people love me. They take my picture at bus stops and tweet me and write creepy fan fic about me. It’s ok to admit you’re impressed."

"Gross," she said. "I hope they kill me off intermediately, if not sooner."

"They won’t," he said automatically. 

"I think the chances of that happening are pretty fucking high. What was the body count last season?"

"No no no," he said. "Have you read the books?"

"I’m halfway through the second," she said. "Does Joffrey ever get what’s coming to him?"

He ignored that entirely, leaning in towards her, his voice at a whisper. “That’s not why I ask. It’s because your character, and my character, are going to team up in the later seasons—”

"Oh god," she said, but she didn’t look away.

"And together, we’re going to _explode Westeros_."


	10. Crowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I sent seasnns an inbox fic [here](http://seasnns.tumblr.com/post/96595474846/if-were-going-to-a-renaissance-faire-and-i-already)

"If we're going to a Renaissance Faire, and I already bought the tickets so we're going to the Renaissance Faire, then it's important we wear these flower crowns," Bea said, pulling them from her bag. Her morning at Pierrepont was not going to waste.

"That's going to be a problem," Ben said.

"It's mandatory," she answered.

"And not that I don't think you did a bang-up job, but," he said, opening his suitcase. "I already got us flower crowns, and they're loads better than yours."


	11. college

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested Bea/Ben future fic [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/99651689272/trick-or-treat-bean-future-fic) as part of trick or treat 2014

She pulled out a stack of photos and a  handful of thumbtacks and got to work on her bulletin board. First, the picture of her and her parents, and one of her and Hero as kids. She had one with her best friend from her old school, Helena, and one of her and Ben, of course, laying out on the grass together.

She skipped a few, then found one of the old Messina gang, from back when she first got there. She’d taken this picture with her on her gap year, stuffed with the others into an old book the day she took off. She’s folded Pedro and Claudio out of sight, but now she smoothed the picture out, looking at the both, casually standing to the right of Hero, arms slung around each other’s shoulders. She was over it, mostly, so she stuck the photo up as-is, crease visible but photo complete.

 She was debating putting up another one of Ben, wearing the flower crown they’d worn to the Ren Faire in London, when she heard a delicate cough. She turned to find her roommate.

“Juliet Chang,” she said, and Bea introduced herself as well. “Is that your boyfriend? He’s cute.”

"Yeah, it’s been about a year. What about you?"

She pulled out her phone, showing Bea pictures. “Romi and I have only been dating, like, not that long at all, but when you know, you know, ya know?”

"I know."

"So he decided to follow me here. But don’t even worry, it’s not like he’s going to be here all the time or anything. You will barely even see him."

They chatted about their classes for almost five minutes before the boyfriend showed up what turned out to be the first of many, many boxes.

Bea offered to help.

"I’ve got it," he said, lifting a suitcase above his head.

Juliet shivered. “You’re so strong.”

"You should see me fence," he said. 

"I have!" She giggled, a little too high pitched.

"Yeah," Bea said. "I should probably— I’m going to see the rest of this place."

Ben called while she was wandering campus. “My new roommate’s a total creep,” he said the moment she picked up. “Richard York III, going into politics, of course. Already tried to seduce a girl down the hall.”

“I think my roommate’s a hoarder.”

"Yikes. I’ve seen your version of  _clean_  so this can only end in tragedy.”

"I don’t have a ton of stuff, though."

"And yet your floor is literally covered in crap."

She leaned back against the stone stairway. “Listen, Ben, do you think it was a bad idea?”

“Going to school three hours apart? You were the one who was all  _‘we’ve got to maintain our individual identities and follow our passions._ ’”

“And I still think that. But… it’s going to be weird not sleeping next to you,” she said. Ever since they’d become official  _official,_ whatever that meant, they’d spent every night together. He’s snuck up the trellises back at her cousin’s house, and even when they were in single-sex hostels during their gap year, she’d sneak into his bed. Almost got them kicked out of their accommodations in Prague, but she never slept better than she did curled up next to him. 

"That’s why I got you the Ben bear."

"The bear is dumb," she said, not telling him it was already tucked into her blankets. 


	12. play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reshmarambles played [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/99405583589/trick-or-treat) as part of trick or treat 2014

"You expect me to believe you found a  _book_ about us?” Bea asked, finally putting her phone down. 

"Not a book, exactly, a script," Ben said, gripping the damn thing so tightly he was afraid it might crumble. 

"Yes, that was the part I wasn’t understanding, the part where we had to differentiate between exactly what delusion you were having."

 "I know it sounds crazy, but here it is." He sat down next to her, afraid to let the book out of his hands.

"This thing has got to be—"

"It’s like 500 years old, and it’s about a Beatrice and a Benedick—"

"They were probably popular names at one point—"

"And they have these buddies, Ursula, and Margaret, and a guy named  _Don Pedro_ who is a prince of, get this, a town called Messina.”

Bea stilled a moment. Then she put her hand out, across the table.

He didn’t want to let go, but she felt trustworthy. 

She flipped through, a grim look on her face. “Ok, assuming we didn’t both hit our heads on something, then what happens to Beatrice and Benedick and their merry band of our friends?”

"Their friends decide to play this trick, right? On our namesakes. To make them  _fall in love_. “

"Truly baffling," Bea said, reading over the last page. "Marriage. No. Can you imagine? You and me. Married." She laughed, twice.

"We need to investigate this. Find out if it was ever performed, or if it  _means something_.”

"It doesn’t mean a damn thing." She picked the book back up, opening to a random page. " _I pray thee now, tell me for/ which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?_ Like I would ever be one of those girls. Listen, I gotta get to statistics.”

"There’s a bit I didn’t tell you about," he said. "It’s about Beatrice’s cousin, Hero."

She sat back down.

***

"I can’t believe they bought that," Pedro said, pumping his fist.

"I can’t believe you wrote a fake play just to mess with them," Meg answered. 

"Also because they need a little something to make them realize how entirely perfect they’d be as a couple." Hero leaned over to give Pedro a high five.

Claudio sighed. “Did you have to make me the bad guy in the whole thing?”

Pedro shook his head. “I’m worse.”

"I’m a maid," Ursula said. 

"And I disappear midway through," Balthazar added.

Pedro rolled his eyes. “You all could’ve read the script when I put it up on gdocs.”

Claudio pulled out his phone. “Guys, I don’t know if they’re in love yet, but Ben just asked me to sign up with him for a no credit class at the university. A women’s studies class. Christ.”

On Hero’s disapproving look he sighed again. “Which I am going to take, obviously.”


	13. coffee shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested a coffee shop [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/99056864570/trick-or-treat-bean-coffee-shop-au) as part of trick or treat 2014

"You again?" Bea asked the moment he sat down at her table, tea in hand. 

He smirked at her. “We went over this yesterday. I go by ‘Ben’ not ‘you’ or ‘get off my newspaper’.”

 "Damn this rain. This whole country is soggy."

"Nonsense. You just came here during the rainy season."

"And when is that?" she asked, throwing her book down so the spine bent. "Because I’ve been in Stratford half a semester already and I think I’ve seen the sun twice."

"With your  _sunny_  disposition I’m sure you’ve just scared the sun off. Probably off warming the equator, wondering what it did to earn your wrath.”

She huffed. “There are other tables.”

"Yes, but all those other tables are full. You hardly need two chairs all by your lonesome and besides—"

"What?"

"Prickly as you are, I’ve been enjoying spending these rainy days with you."

Bea rolled her eyes, and wondered what the weather would be the next day.


	14. wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon requested NMTD [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/98357601389/trick-or-treat-i-love-your-nmtd-fic-so-like-if-you) for trick or treat 2014

It wasn’t that Beatrice  _wanted_ to be late to her cousin’s wedding, especially since she was the maid of honor. But her flight had been delayed and her cab got stuck in traffic, and she didn’t get to the church until the ceremony was supposed to start. 

And there, waiting by the door, was Hero, looking every inch perfection. Bea was suddenly aware that she herself looked like someone who had gotten dressed in the backseat of a cab. She hadn’t showered or gotten her hair done or put on makeup or slept in the past day and a half. “I’m so sorry—” she started, dropping her suitcase next to a crucifix. Hero shushed her immediately.

"I’m just so glad to see you," she said happily, hugging her. "Two years is too long."

Bea felt even guiltier about that. It was just that her job was abroad, and a second-year biochemist didn’t get a lot of time away. She hadn’t even gotten to meet Hero’s fiance, though he popped up occasionally in her YouTube videos. She was making enough money from hair tutorials and  haul videos that she didn’t even have a real job.

"I look awful—" she started. 

"You look wonderful, and you’re  _here._ Come on.”

Bea grabbed her bouquet from Meg, who gave her a finger wave. “We’ll catch up later,” she mouthed. “What’s wrong with your nails?”

She followed Meg down the aisle, looking through the rows to see what Dukes were there. She smiled at her aunties and her parents, then turned towards the groomsman, looking for Leo.

And suddenly realized that the man next to Leo was none other than Benedick Hobbes.

She pasted a smile on her face.

She kept it there for the entire ceremony, until it was time to link arms with the best man and walk down the aisle.

"Never thought I’d see you again." Benedick whispered into her ear. It made her treacherous body tingle.

 _Focus_ , she thought.  ”And here I assumed you’d died or something.”

He winced. “Is this because I didn’t call you after—”

"That night of intense disappointment?" She glared. 

Hero came out of nowhere, giving her a big hug. “I see you’ve already met Ben.”

"Briefly. Far too briefly, years ago." Bea smirked.

"Hey now. I would say we knew each other for quite a while," Ben said. "Several times."

"How did you two know each other?" Claudio asked, clapping Ben on the back. "Just think, my best friend and my new cousin-in-law."

She welcomed him to the family with a hug. 

"It was ages ago, at a party in college," Benedick said. "A costume party. Bea came as an ironic princess."

"And Benedick came as someone with a personality."

"I go by Ben now—"

"OK, Ben go far, far away from me—"

"Me-ow," Meg said. "Fascinating though this is— and we  _will_ be returning to this later— it’s time for the receiving line.”

Bea ended up in line, squashed between her cousin and the one man she hoped never to see again. And if spending the better part of half an hour pushed up against him wasn’t as terrible as she would’ve guessed, she wasn’t going to tell anyone. 


	15. away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pedrodonaldson requested [here](http://diaphenia.tumblr.com/post/100778935820/trick-or-treat) a trick or treat 2014

Pedro snapped his laptop shut. He put down his Smarties, because he realized he might throw up, and it would probably behoove him to stop eating. 

He wondered if they knew, the stupid pair of them, that his parents watched the videos. Or at least they could; he’d obviously shown them John’s video back when they were trying to track him down. His mother had, on more than one occasion since his brother’s return, referred to Pedro as an “all-around great guy,” so he knew she’d at least seen the ones he was in.

(that he’d asked Mum not to didn’t stop her. It was bullshit— he wasn’t that guy he’d been, and he’d never be again)

It wasn’t like he’d been ready to throw himself a personal pride parade or anything, but talking weekly with a therapist both as a family and one-on-one since John left had put a lot of things in perspective. If he wasn’t exiting the closet with a marching band, he was peeking out. 

Time to shut that door.

Instead, he went to school the next day with his head held high, and he treated the whole thing like a fucking joke. “Crushes. Right. Not everyone want to exit school in a couple, knowing it’s all downhill from here.”

Balthazar looked like he wanted to disappear into the wall. He sent Pedro a look that would’ve killed him, if Pedro was in the mood to allow himself feelings. 

Bea looked back and forth between the two of them. “But I heard—”

"Let it go, Bea," Pedro practically growled, and she did. 

And Pedro forgave her, in much the same way she’d forgiven Claudio. They still hung out as a group for whatever twee picnics or movie nights someone else planned, but he knew Bea still glared Claud’s way whenever she thought no one was looking.

"I hear Beatrice is dating that nice Hobbes boy," his mother said over dinner one night.

"Yeah, I saw," John said, and Pedro knew, suddenly knew, that he’d seen the video. The two of them were mostly ok around each other these days, but Pedro knew John better now; knew family therapy and a monthly hug hadn’t stopped his brother from reflexively looking for ways to destroy him. 

"It’s not a big deal," Pedro said, aggressively stabbing his salad with his salad fork. 

"I know you were interested in her," Mum continued, oblivious. "But there will be other girls."

"Yeah," John said. "Girls."

***

Pedro knew everyone else was spending their gap year travelling the continents, or saving up money, but he knew he wanted to go to school right away. 

He picked the farthest school that accepted him and packed up early for some bullshit optional orientation program. Blocked all his Messina friends from his news feed, as he couldn’t take another smug couple pic of Bea and Ben. He didn’t want to know what covers Balthazar was posting, didn’t want to read into his musical choices.

He was going to reinvent himself. No more Pedro Donaldson, all-around great guy. No more student leadership roles. No more football.

Maybe he’d finally go by Pete.


End file.
